Chapter 50: First Snow

The Knife made after repeated folding and forging certainly wouldn't lack in hardness and toughness, but Baifeng still hadn't mastered the forging of the blade shape; it wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as he had imagined, and was even a bit ugly.

The tang was also integrated, and a hole had been punched to facilitate the installation of a handle. After determining that the forging was about right, he used a large fire to heat the blade blank to an orange-red color, then took it out and quickly quenched it in water. Baifeng didn't know how to judge the hardness, but just seeing that the blade body was very straight, he felt the quenching was a success.

Thrown on the ground, the sound was crisp; thrown on the anvil, it didn't shatter; bending it by hand didn't break it, and after being bent, it could spring back. Only then did Baifeng confirm that this thing he had forged was no longer Iron, but could be called Steel.

There were many stones of various coarseness that could be used to sharpen the Knife, but Baifeng was unwilling to let others do it; he ground the blade shape bit by bit himself, then roughly polished it with fine sand, and even used Hemp Cloth for fine polishing.

The handle was made of Peach Wood, drilled and nailed tight, and ground to fit his own hand shape. After sharpening, it gleamed with a cold light. Using particularly hard Green Steel Wood to test the Knife, it could cut very deep, yet the blade remained completely undamaged.

Everyone stared at that Knife with eyes burning as if they wanted to possess it. Baifeng wasn't very satisfied because the blade shape he had forged was awkward, and he also knew that a knife made by such folding and forging would surely have complex and gorgeous patterns on the blade body, but he didn't know how to reveal the patterns, so it currently looked very rough. Otherwise, with such a knife, Baifeng could have traded for who knows how many beauties for the tribe.

Placing it into a scabbard made of wood and cowhide, Baifeng threw the Knife to Lu, who was squeezing through the crowd outside the door: "This is the Knife I promised you. Don't pester me in the future. Keep it well; if you lose it, I won't care."

Lu hadn't expected that Baifeng would actually give him the Knife. Just listening to Baifeng's words, he nodded blankly. Before Baifeng could give any more instructions, he hugged the Knife and ran off. The tribesmen who had originally been staring at Baifeng stared at Lu with even more fervent eyes. Lu ran away, and they all followed in a rush; not a single person stayed behind to look at Baifeng.

Watching Sui tidying up the smithy, Baifeng felt a slight sense of relief.

Dropping the blacksmith's apron and tossing the hammer aside, Baifeng pulled Sui up, intending to leave the smithy. At the same time, he told Hui that he could now try to forge independently; he had already solved the most important matter of steelmaking, and it was impossible to keep himself trapped in the smithy forever.

Hui nodded repeatedly in agreement, and the moment Baifeng walked out the door, he picked up the iron hammer and jumped into a haphazardly improvised happy dance.

Winter had not yet officially arrived, but the first Snow had already fallen. Moreover, it had fallen stealthily through the night, and there was no intention of it stopping when he got up in the morning. Heaven and Earth were a vast expanse of white. The Snow had accumulated quite thickly, enough to cover the top of his feet, but the Snow didn't have much moisture, so it couldn't be molded when grabbed.

Except for Baifeng, no one had shoes; they all felt that wearing that thing on their feet was too silly. Now, no one could go out. The children were playful and ran into the snowy ground, just wanting to frolic, but their feet couldn't stand the cold, so they quickly ran back.

Since it was the will of Heaven, let the whole tribe take a holiday today; wait until the Snow stops before talking about anything else.

Xiaoniu could no longer enter Baifeng's house, so Baifeng built a small shed for it with wood next to his own house. Although the walls were drafty on all four sides, at least it could block the Snow from above.

Baifeng considered it sturdy enough not to be crushed by the Snow, and the entire shed was filled with thick, dry Grass. Xiaoniu lay directly on it, so even if it was snowing heavily, it would be warm. At this time, its herd was probably in that valley, their backs covered in Snow, huddled together and shivering.

With nothing to do today, Sui lay on the warm kang, which had soft dry Grass underneath and cowhide spread on top, blinking at Baifeng. Baifeng naturally wouldn't be tempted.

Finding the tools, Baifeng wanted to make a pair of boots for Sui. Their Mongolian Robes were now in the finishing stages and would be done in a few more days, though the outside was plain Hemp Cloth, not as colorful and beautiful as the Mongolian Robes of later generations.

Picking up Sui's feet, Baifeng placed them on the cowhide to trace the foot shape. Although there were thick calluses, because she insisted on soaking her feet every day, Sui's feet were petite, clean, and very white, with a perfect shape; the proportions of her delicate ankles and slender calves to her feet were perfect.

Baifeng pinched Sui's feet, his saliva almost dripping down, but Baifeng quickly suppressed the thought. He wouldn't let anyone know he had such a slightly perverted preference, not even Sui.

Fortunately, Sui didn't discover anything unusual, thinking only that Baifeng was working seriously. She switched to the other foot, and Baifeng indulged his habit well before pretending to say that the soles had been measured.

It was snowing outside, and the Fireplace in the house was crackling as it burned, making the room warm. At this time, it would be perfect if there were an iron kettle whistling on the Fireplace.

On a snowy day, everything slowed down. Perhaps the other tribesmen were lying on their kangs, continuing to sleep soundly; he didn't know what those living alone with wives were doing.

Baifeng took the newly forged Steel Knife and used wood to carve shoe soles for Sui. If made only of cowhide, the soles would be a bit too soft; it was better to sandwich a thin wooden base in the middle.

Baifeng was extremely patient. The wooden base had to be as flat as possible to avoid hurting the feet, and it had to have an arch and couldn't be completely flat, otherwise it would affect the force of the arch of the foot. Not only would it make the feet hurt after wearing them for a long time, but it would also affect the spine and make the foot shape look ugly.

Sui watched from the side, occasionally handing Baifeng the hemp rope for sewing the boots, or pulling the cowhide tight for Baifeng to cut better.

In the afternoon, the Snow gradually began to stop, with some scattered snow foam flying. By this time, the thickness of the Snow had already exceeded the ankles and reached the calves. He hadn't expected the first Snow to be so heavy.

There was no need to make the tribesmen come out to clear the Snow now; it was too much of a hassle for them. Better to let them keep sleeping and let the Snow settle; it would be easier to clean up tomorrow.

There were no lamps at night. Oil was very precious, and Baifeng couldn't bear to use it for lighting. He could only use Pine Torch for temporary lighting, but unfortunately, there was a lot of smoke, and it was very choking.

Baifeng had originally thought about finding a beehive to extract honey and refine beeswax, but his thoughts were too optimistic. The tribesmen had never seen a honeybee nest; instead, hornet and wasp nests were everywhere.

A tribesman kicked a dead tree as he passed by, not expecting that a hornet's nest was living inside. Fortunately, there were many mud puddles after the rain, and he rolled into one to escape disaster. However, when he returned to the tribe, it was discovered that he had been stung in four places, was severely poisoned, kept vomiting, and fainted, unable to get up. Baifeng could only use the few medicines on hand to prepare Antidote Soup, and he only recovered after resting for a night.

Now, when Sui and Baifeng slept at night, they were very composed; there was no embarrassment or awkwardness, but nothing physical had ever happened between them. They just relied on and were familiar with each other. Baifeng was the one who often woke up cold in the night; looking at Sui wrapped in cowhide, Baifeng could only bury his body in the dry Grass to get warm.

In the morning, the sunlight reflected off the Snow made Heaven and Earth exceptionally bright. After washing up in the room, Baifeng stretched and was about to go out to gather the tribesmen to clear the Snow.

But as soon as he opened the door, the messy, overlapping claw prints all over the ground made Baifeng feel terrified and uneasy, his scalp tingling.